MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

states; And If This Should Be Considered

Too Great A Foreign Conquest Will Most Certainly Be Attempted. The

Northern Provinces Of Mexico Will Fall Into Their Hands, Even If Texas

Should First Take Possession Of Them.

 

 

 

"These Mormons Are Accumulating, Like A Snow-Ball Rolling Down An

Inclined plane. They Are Also Enrolling among Their Officers Some Of The

First Talent In the Country, By Titles Which They Give And By Money

Which They Can Command. They Have Appointed captain Henry Bennet, Late

Of The United states Army, Inspector-General Of Their Legion, And He Is

Commissioned as Such By Governor Carlin. This Gentleman Is Known To Be

Well Skilled in fortification, Gunnery, And Military Engineering

Generally; And I Am Assured that He Is Receiving Regular Pay, Derived

From The Tithing Of This Warlike People. I Have Seen His Plans For

Fortifying Nauvoo, Which Are Equal To Any Of Vauban'S.

 

 

 

"General John C. Bennet (A New England Man) Is The Prophet'S Great Gun.

They Call Him, Though A Man Of Diminutive Stature, The 'Forty-Two

Pounder.' He Might Have Applied his Talents In a More Honourable Cause;

But I Am Assured that He Is Well Paid For The Important Services He Is

Rendering This People, Or, I Should Rather Say, Rendering The Prophet.

This Gentleman Exhibits The Highest Degree Of Field Military Talent

(Field Tactics), United with Extensive Learning. He May Yet Become

Dangerous To The States. He Was Quartermaster-General Of The State Of

Illinois, And, At Another Time, A Professor In the Erie University. It

Will, Therefore, Be Seen That Nothing But A High Price Could Have

Secured him To These Fanatics. Only A Part Of Their Officers And

Professors Are Mormons: But Then They Are United by A Common Interest,

And Will Act Together On Main Points To A Man. Those Who Are Not Mormons

When They Come Here, Very Soon Become So, Either From Interest Or

Conviction.

 

 

 

"The Smiths Are Not Without Talent; Joe, The Chief, Is A Noble-Looking

Fellow, A Mahomet Every Inch Of Him; The Postmaster, Sidney Rigdon, Is A

Lawyer, A Philosopher, And A Saint. The Other Generals Are Also Men Of

Talent, And Some Of Them Men Of Learning. I Have No Doubt They Are All

Brave, As They Are Most Unquestionably Ambitious, And The Tendency Of

Their Religious Creed is To Annihilate All Other Sects. We May,

Therefore, See The Time When This Gathering Host Of Religious Fanatics

Will Make This Country Shake To Its Centre. A Western Empire Is Certain.

Ecclesiastical History Presents No Parallel To This People, Inasmuch As

They Are Establishing Their Religion On A Learned basis. In their

College, They Teach All The Sciences, With Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French,

Italian, And Spanish; The Mathematical Department Is Under An Extremely

Able Professor, Of The Name Of Pratt; And A Professor Of Trinity

College, Dublin, Is President Of Their University.

 

 

 

"I Arrived there, Incog., On The 1St Inst., And, From The Great

Preparations For The Military Parade, Was Induced to Stay To See The

Turn-Out, Which, I Confess, Has Astonished and Filled me With Fears For

The Future Consequences. The Mormons, It Is True, Are Now Peaceable, But

The Lion Is Asleep. Take Care, And Don'T Rouse Him.

 

 

 

"The City Of Nauvoo Contains About Fifteen Thousand Souls, And Is

Rapidly Increasing. It Is Well Laid Out, And The Municipal Affairs

Appear To Be Well Conducted. The Adjoining Country Is A Beautiful

Prairie. Who Will Say That The Mormon Prophet Is Not Among The Great

Spirits Of The Age?

 

 

 

"The Mormons Number, In europe And America, About One Hundred and Fifty

Thousand, And Are Constantly Pouring Into Nauvoo And The Neighbouring

Country. There Are Probably In and About This City, At A Short Distance

From The River, Not Far From Thirty Thousand Of These Warlike Fanatics,

And It Is But A Year Since They Have Settled in the Illinois."

Chapter XL

While I Was At Mr. Courtenay'S Plantation I Had A Panther Adventure, A

Circumstance Which, In itself, Would Be Scarcely Worth Mentioning, Were

It Not That This Fierce Animal Was Thought To Have Entirely Left The

Country For More Than Twenty Years. For Several Days There Had Been A

Rapid Diminution Among The Turkeys, Lambs, And Young Pigs In the

Neighbourhood, And We Had Unsuccessfully Beaten The Briars And

Cane-Brakes, Expecting at Every Moment To Fall In with Some Large

Tiger-Cat, Which Had Strayed from The Southern Brakes. After Much

Fruitless Labour, Mr. Courtenay Came To The Conclusion That A Gang Of

Negro Marroons Were Hanging about, And He Ordered that A Watch Should

For The Future Be Kept Every Night.

 

 

 

It Happened that The Whole Family Was One Day Invited to A Wedding On

The Other Side Of The River. Not Having any Clothes Fit For A Party, I

Remained at Home, And At Mid-Day Started on Horseback Alone, With All

The Dogs, For A Battue. The Day Was Sultry, Although Windy; As The Roar

Of The Wind In the Canes Prevented me From Hearing The Barking Of The

Dogs, Having arrived at One Of Our Former Hunting Camping-Places,

Fifteen Miles From The House, I Threw Myself Upon The Ground, And

Allowed my Horse To Graze. I Had Scarcely Been Half-An-Hour Occupied in

Smoking My Pipe, When All The Dogs, In full Cry, Broke From The Briars,

And Rushed into The Cane-Brakes, Passing Me At A Distance Of Thirty

Yards. I Knew It Was Neither Bear Nor Deer That They Were Running after,

And As I Had Observed a Path Through The Canes, I Leaped upon My Saddle,

And Followed the Chase, Wondering What It Could Be, As, Had The Animal

Been Any Of The Smaller Feline Species, It Would Have Kept To The

Briars, Where Dogs Have Never The Least Chance Against Them.

 

 

 

I Rode Briskly Till I Arrived at A Large Cypress Swamp, On The Other

Side Of Which I Could Perceive Through The Openings Another Cane-Brake,

Higher And Considerably Thicker. I Fastened my Horse, Giving Him The

Whole Length Of The Lasso, To Allow Him To Browse Upon The Young Leaves

Of The Canes, And With My Bowie Knife And Rifle Entered the Swamp,

Following The Trail Of The Dogs. When I Came To The Other Cane-Brake, I

Heard The Pack Before Me Barking Most Furiously, And Evidently At Bay, I

Could Only Be Directed by The Noise, As It Was Impossible For Me To See

Anything; So High And Thick Were The Canes, That I Was Obliged to Open A

Way With My Knife, And It Was With Much Trouble And Fatigue That I

Arrived within Twenty Yards Of The Dogs. I Knew That I Was Once More

Approaching a Swamp, For The Canes Were Becoming Thinner; Raising My

Eyes, I Perceived that I Was In the Vicinity Of A Large Cotton-Tree, At

The Foot Of Which Probably The Dogs Were Standing. Yet I Could Not See

Them, And I Began To Examine With Care The Upper Limbs Of The Tree, To

Ascertain If Any Tiger-Cat Had Lodged itself Upon Some Of The Forks. But

There Was Nothing That I Could Discover; Cutting The Canes On The Left

And The Right, I Advanced ten Yards More, When, To My Surprise, I

Perceived, Thirty Feet Above Me, A Large Panther Embracing The Trunk Of

A Tree With Its Huge Paws, And Looking angrily Below At The Dogs.

 

 

 

I Would Have Retired, But I Dared not, As I Feared that The Least Noise

Would Attract The Attention Of The Animal, Who Would Spring Upon Me From

Its Elevated position. The Dogs Barked louder And Louder; Twice I

Raised my Rifle, But Did Not Fire, My Nerves Were Too Much Agitated, And

My Arms Shook. At Last I Regained my Self-Command, And Reflecting That

Among The Pack There Were Some Dogs Almost A Match For The Terrible

Animal, I Rested my Rifle Upon The Limb Of One Of The Heavy Canes, And

Fired: My Aim Was True, The Brute Fell Mortally Wounded, Though Not

Dead; Half Of The Dogs Were Upon It In a Moment, But, Shaking Them Off,

The Animal Attempted to Re-Ascend The Tree. The Effort, However, Was

Above Its Strength, And, After Two Useless Springs, It Attempted to Slip

Away. At That Moment The Larger Dogs Sprang Upon The Animal, Which Could

Struggle No Longer, As Life Was Ebbing Fast With The Stream Of Blood.

Ere I Had Time To Reload My Rifle, It Was Dead.

 

 

 

When I Approached, All The Dogs Were Upon The Animal, Except A Fierce

Little Black Bitch, Generally The Leader Of The Pack; I Saw Her Dart

Through The Canes With Her Nose On The Ground, And Her Tail Hanging Low.

The Panther Was A Female, Very Lean, And Of The Largest Size; By Her

Dugs I Knew She Had A Cub Which Could Not Be Far Off, And I Tried to

Induce The Pack To Follow The Bitch, But They Were All Too Busy In

Tearing and Drinking The Blood Of The Victim, And It Was Not Safe To Use

Force With Them. For At Least Ten Minutes I Stood Contemplating Them,

Waiting Till They Would Be Tired. All At Once I Heard A Bark, A Growl,

And A Plaintive Moan. I Thought At First That The Cub Had Been

Discovered, But As The Dogs Started at Full Speed, Following The Chase

For More Than Twenty Minutes, I Soon Became Convinced that It Must Be

Some New Game, Either A Boar Or A Bear. I Followed, But Had Not Gone

Fifty Steps, When A Powerful Rushing Through The Canes Made Me Aware

That The Animal Pursued had Turned back On Its Trail, And, Twenty Yards

Before Me, I Perceived the Black Bitch Dead And Horribly Mangled. I Was

Going Up To Her, When The Rushing Came Nearer And Nearer; I Had Just

Time To Throw Myself Behind A Small Patch Of Briars, Before Another

Panther Burst Out From The Cane-Brakes.

 

 

 

[Illustration: "With A Long And Light Spring It Broke Out Of The

Canes."]

 

 

 

I Had Never Seen Before So Tremendous, And, At The Same Time, So

Majestic And So Beautiful An Animal, As With A Long And Light Spring It

Broke Out Of The Canes. It Was A Male; His Jaws Were Covered with Foam

And Blood; His Tail Was Lashing Through The Air, And At Times He Looked

Steadily Behind, As If Uncertain If He Would Run Or Fight His

Pursuers. At Last His Eyes Were Directed to The Spot Where The Bitch Lay

Dead, And With A Single Bound He Was Again Upon The Body, And Rolled it

Under His Paws Till It Had Lost All Shape. As The Furious Animal Stood

Thus Twenty Yards Before Me, I Could Have Fired, But Dared not Do So,

While The Dogs Were So Far Off. However, They Soon Emerged from The

Brake, And Rushed forward. A Spirited young Pup, A Little Ahead Of The

Others, Was Immediately Crushed by His Paw, And Making a Few Bounds

Towards A Large Tree, He Climbed to The Height Of Twenty Feet, Where He

Remained, Answering To The Cries Of The Dogs With A Growl As Loud

As Thunder.

 

 

 

I Fired, And This Time There Was No Struggle. My Ball Had Penetrated

Through The Eye To The Brain, Yet The Brute In its Death Struggle

Still Clung On.

 

 

 

At Last The Claws Relaxed from Their Hold, And It Fell Down A Ponderous

Mass, Terrible Still In death.

 

 

 

The Sun Had Already Set, And Not Wishing To Lose Any Time In skinning

The Animal, I Merely Cut Off Its Long Tail, Which I Secured as A Trophy

Round My Waist. My Adventures, However, Were Not Yet Terminated, For

While I Was Crossing The Short Width Of Cane-Brake Which Was Between Me

And Where The She-Panther Laid Dead, The Dogs Again Gave Tongue, And, In

Less Than Three Minutes, Had Tracked another Animal. Night Was Coming On

Pretty Fast, And I Was Beginning To Be Alarmed. Till Now I Had Been

Successful, Each Time Having Destroyed, With A Single Ball, A Terrible

Enemy, Whom Even The Boldest Hunters Fear To Attack Alone; But Should I

Have The Same Good Luck In a Third Encounter? It Was More Than I Could

Expect, Especially As